


Helden Sterben Nicht

by HackedTig



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pre-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, Heavy Angst, Pre-Fall of Overwatch, Young Angela "Mercy" Ziegler
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-29
Updated: 2018-03-29
Packaged: 2019-04-14 12:16:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14135877
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HackedTig/pseuds/HackedTig
Summary: The Omnic Crisis begins and starts to ravage the European world, including a Swiss hospital in Zürich, Switzerland. This moment in time changes the life of a young Angel forever.





	Helden Sterben Nicht

**Author's Note:**

> Here's a little fic detailing the nightmare in Chapter 7 of _A Valkyrie's Game_. This is the actual event in which Angela loses her parents to the Omnic in relation to _A Valkyrie's Game/To Dance with a Demon_ canon. I hope you guys enjoy!

_Helden sterben nicht._

“Angela, look who’s coming back from surgery!” 

A little head of blonde perked up. The pale brunette woman in front of her smiled brightly and Angela jumped up readily, glancing over the desk barely. Two doctors were chattering, almost hand in hand. “Mama! Papa!” Angela giggled lightly, and ran from behind the nurse's station desk to her parents, hugging her father’s legs first. 

“Angela, are you behaving for Marion?” Her father asked, a smile as he patted her head. 

She giggled, nuzzling into his hip. “Yes, Papa. I’m behaving. I was coloring behind the desk.” 

“Good girl,” Her mother said, smiling at Angela as well. “We’re almost done. We’ll be able to go home soon, Dear” 

Angela smiled a little wider and parted from her parents as they made their way to the desk to file work. A light went off, And Marion looked over. “Say, Angela. Do you want to come with me to take care of this call?” 

“Okay” The little blonde girl chimed, and she trailed right behind Marion as she went down a hallway. Angela knew this meant a patient needed help or wanted assistance. Because of how slow Marion was walking, she figured the patient probably just wanted some assistance and was not in any danger. She stayed close enough to not lose sight, but far enough back that she was not going to bump into Marion either. Turning into a room, 140, Angela smiled. 

An older man was in the bed, and he looked a little worse for wear. Angela knew he needed a new organ, but which one she could not remember. 

As Marion was going to check the sweet older man, there was a shake. Not as if there was someone passing in the hallway with a heavy cart, but rather… something else entirely. Everyone felt it, and Marion stepped over to the window to peer outside curiously. Another shake rattled the floor, this time, a little bigger. 

Marion could not find anything at first, but her pager started to beep. She picked it up from her hip, and her eyes suddenly grew wide. 

“Angela dear, come here” She beckoned, and the young girl did so. A little shaken, sure, Angela was not quite sure what was going on… Marion got down low, to Angela’s eye level, and gave her hair a gentle little pet despite it being tied up tight. “... Angela. There’s an empty room across the hallway, okay? I need you to go into it, lock yourself in there, and lock yourself in the bathroom. You’re a smart girl, do you understand me?” Marion gave her task, and Hana’s eyes got big. 

“Y-Yes… I understand. But why?” Angela asked her curiously, tilting her head just slightly. 

“Don’t worry about that. Just go for now, okay? Maybe… maybe try and sleep, I know you’re tired, right? Trust me hon. Take the pillows and blankets off the bed too. It’ll be okay. I’ll come get you when its _safe_ ” Marion gave her a tight hug, and Angela started to shake. 

“S-Safe?” She murmured. 

“Go now, I promise you’ll be alright,” Marion said, and gently pushed Angela in the direction of the door. She was more than a little frightened to say the least, and she could feel from Marion’s hand pushing her away, that she was not alone. 

The little girl nodded, and bid goodbye to Marion and the older man, and rushed herself into the room next door. As she entered the hallway, she saw quite a few people now, running about in what appeared to be… panic. More shakes and thuds shook the floor, and Angela made her way quicker into the new room. It was empty, just like Marion said. She grabbed the patient blankets, and the pillow, and pulled herself into the bathroom just as she had been told. 

Both doors, locked, Angela hunkered down, curling up in the blankets after a short time since it was rather cold. The ground continued to shake, sometimes more roughly than the last. At some point, Angela could hear some rough noises outside, crashing, things breaking, she just kept herself hidden and tucked under the blankets, ear to the pillow to muffle the noise. At some point, there were screams outside she couldn’t ignore, until they faded to silent groans of pain and misery. 

\--- --- --- 

Angela couldn’t recall how long she waited. But it was a long time without the noise that she finally decided to rise out of the mess of blankets. It was almost like at some point she passed out, she could feel the grogginess in her little eyes. She sat up and rubbed them while she tugged the blanket with her. She wrapped it around her shoulders as she walked out of the bathroom of the room. Already, she could see the flickering of half broken lights outside, the mess of rubble just outside the door that was forced open. 

Scared, yet curious, Angela made her way out of the empty room. The hallway she approached was in shambles. Walls were broken, bullet holes littered doors that wouldn’t budge open, some were on the floor off hinges. It was a complete mess, a disaster, and it smelled like blood and gunpowder. 

Her steps were slow, trying to avoid the big pieces of glass and rubble. Slowly as the situation started to get to her, Angela started to sniffle. Big blue eyes began to water as she traveled down the hallway, coming up to a fork not too far up. Next to her, a section of wall crumbled on itself, leaving a rubble pile behind her that gave her a good spook. Angela squeaked before rushing down the hallway a little quicker than she started. 

Once she got to the corner, she looked down both sides. Looking down one way, a robot about the height of herself turned another corner. It was running, running from something. Angela instantly hid back behind the wall, watching the little omnic painted in a purple color run down the hallway. It seemed to screech as it did, seemingly in fear. 

Angela watched as it tried running away, before a sizable piece of wall-rubble caught up with it, crushing it. The processor inside of the tiny omnic ceased to work, rendering the little thing inoperable. Another body collapsed to the ground after a moment, heavy breathing with it. Angela recognized the sound as human and turned back down the hallway. Leaning against the wall, covered in dirt and blood, was Marion. 

“Marion!” Angela exclaimed before running over. She pulled her blanket from over her shoulders, throwing it on top of Marion as if it would help her. If it didn’t, it would at least hide the injuries from view. Angela was next to her then, cupping her face in her small chubby hands. “Marion! Are you okay? P… Please tell me you’ll be okay Marion!!” Angela practically pleaded. 

The brunette laughed weakly, tugging on the blanket and pulling it closer. She almost wanted to cover Angela with it and make her play ‘hide and seek’ one more time but found her body too weak. “You… you need to… to go back and… and hide, Angela. It's… it's not safe.” Marion requested. “Please. For me.” 

“No! I won’t leave you alone!” Angela wailed, tears now leaking from her eyes, she clung to Marion like a vice, hugging and squeezing her as if she was the last person alive. 

The nurse raised her hand, pulling Angela closer for a moment, enjoying her company. As her pulse faded and her brain blacked out, she had a smile settled on her face. “You… always want to help… You’ll do great…” She managed to breathe, giving a few gentle pets to Angela’s hair. The little girl hiccuped and cried against Marion, hugging and nuzzling her, whispering prayers that could never be heard. A few, small seconds passed, before the hand holding her head fell limp against the floor and slow, ragged breathing came to a stop. 

The realization was slow, but it came. Angela pulled away slowly, as she realized that life had escaped Marion. The words she had said, they didn’t make sense. Angela felt her tears drip down her face, mix with some of the blood and dirt she had gotten from Marion. She sniffled, wiping her face and wanting to cry more. She would have been satisfied laying there if something at the other end of the hallway didn’t make her jump.

Stomps, mechanical whirs got Angela up and on her feet in a near instant. The far side, she could see red light amidst the flashing hall lights. Something told Angela not to shriek, no matter how much she wanted to at that moment. She took off suddenly down the other way, making enough noise to attract a Bastian Unit that was lurking. 

Angela ran as fast as she could until her lungs felt like they would burn and her body felt like it would collapse on her. Always trained to run for her life in case of an emergency, she had never failed once. She kept running, making a turn right to the place she was looking for. Marion’s nurse station. What she saw, however, was much worse than what she had just witnessed.

The rubble was everywhere, dust scattered across perfect white floors. The desks hardly existed past that point in a few places. Bodies were scattered everywhere, and worst of all, the two most familiar ones were right in the middle of the whole mess, covered in more debris and dust than any blood. As Angela walked nervously closer, she could see the bullet holes through their bodies and their clothes. Her mother was almost practically torn in half. “P… Papa… Mama…” She stuttered quietly, coming over both of their bodies. The one she was pulled to first was her father, who had the most of him intact. She cupped his face, her hands stained with Marion’s blood and mixed with his. 

_No, Heroes never die._

She truly started to scream then. She yelled, at the very top of her lungs, her very anguish and despair she felt in that moment. Angela cried and let out as much hurt and pain she possibly could, hugging herself close to her father in desperation, for anything to get him to come back. The little girl even got down to his side, trying to perform what she knew about CPR on him. All the while, crying louder and louder. 

This had attracted the attention of the Bastion from before. It walked into view, attempting to find the direct source of the crying and yelling, the living creature that evaded its objective. 

Angela continued to cry, to wail, to scream, to beg and plead for anyone or anything to save her father, to bring him back. Her cries were reduced to blubbering incoherences. She didn’t even hear the Bastion until it cocked its gun. She pulled her head up before shrieking, completely able to look down the barrel of the gun. 

Just as she thought her life was over in that moment, Something, someone entered the area. 

“Fight ME! You coward!!” 

The ground rumbled, and something of even bigger metal size slid across the floor, plowing the Bastion unit into the wall with such force, the wall shattered completely. Angela witnessed it, her eyes wide and her breathing scattered and shallow. The man who slammed the Bastion away soon turned to her, friendliness in his gaze while other men and women stormed the hospital, without the clunky armor. She looked at him tentatively while he reached out his hand. “Hello, Fraulein. You must be scared. I will help you, I promise” 

_They are always made. Passed down from person to person._

Angela reached up, her small hand barely covering the tip of the large man’s hand. 

“I’m Reinhardt” he introduced himself, smiling a little bit. “Who are you?” 

“An… Angela” The little girl squeaked out, her voice trembling and hoarse. 

“What a perfect little angel. Hello, Angela.” Reinhardt greeted her, picking her up carefully with his gauntlet-covered hand. “We found some mercy in this Bastion tonight, didn’t we? It spared your life long enough for me to come smash him.” Reinhardt laughed at his own joke. 

It did little to soothe Angela, but she did appreciate his kindness. She leaned against him, looking down and beginning to cry at the figure of her parents again, albeit much more silently. 

Reinhardt caught the hint. “Were they your parents, Angela?” he asked her softly, his tone remorseful. 

Angela nodded, unable to speak the words. 

He embraced her as gently as he could, and quickly set her on top of his shoulders. “Do not worry little one, we will help you from now on,” Reinhardt explained genuinely, letting Angela relax on top of his armor, slowly falling asleep as he started walking and despite his loud orders. 

_They return in different forms. Maybe even different names. I do know of the hero that my father once was._

.  
.  
.

Angela opened her eyes on the battlefield. Her team was ready to go in, to fight, to save this day against omnics. Reinhardt looked at her with confidence. She returned the smile, gripping her staff tightly in her hands. A look of gentle determination spread her face. Null Sector didn’t stand a chance. 

 

_Ich bin Mercy._

_Helden Sterben Nicht._

**Author's Note:**

> _Heroes never die. No, They never die. They are always made, passed down from person to person. They return in different forms. Maybe even different names. I do know of the hero that my father once was. I am Mercy. Heroes never die_
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> I forgot what gave me the inspiration for this fic tbh, but I last touched it back in November and knew that wouldn't do. So here it is! If you guys liked comments and suggestions are always amazing~ Thank you all for reading!!


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